Natural Inception
by Tora Brambles
Summary: Arthur and Ariadne adjust to life after the Fisher job. But, soon they are joined by another team of extractors who want them to join them in a mission: tracking and killing the world's only natural inceptor. Arthur/Ariadne slight Arthur/OC
1. R and R Not

**AN: Hello everyone. I got too impatient and I've decided to just write and let the chips fall. I hope this goes well... Well, this is my first Inception fanfic (Seen the movie twice now) and I wanted to do something with Arthur and Ariadne, since I find them quite adorable. I hope I do the characters justice. It might be a little slow at first because I want to set some things up... heh, so be patient.**

**Plot: Arthur, Ariadne and co. minus Cobb, adjust to life in LA as they recover from the Fisher-job. Unfortunately, they are tracked down by another team of extractors who want them to work with them on a mission: tracking and killing the only natural Inceptor in existence because she plans to kill the leaders of the most powerful nations in the world. But is everything as it seems?**

**Warnings: OOC (out of characterness), death, adult language and content**

**Couples: ArthurxAriadne and slight ArthurxOC**

* * *

Her breathing was coming in quick, raspy gasps, as if she couldn't pull enough air into her lungs. Which was becoming true enough, her body was becoming weak, the wound caused by Arthur's bullet was beginning to drain her dry. Her face was already pale, legs wobbling slightly, the gun in her hand trembling as she kept it pointed at Ariadne's head. The Mark took another breath, much slower, but still raspy, "This is your... choice Point Man... this ends here... drop the Glock (I think that's the name of the gun Arthur uses in the film) or the Architect dies..."

One Month Ago...

Ariadne stepped out of gate into the terminal, being swept along by the crowds, moving easily deeper into the airport. First stop, immigration. After handing the woman in uniform her passport she glanced around, spotting Cobb behind her, in the next station. Her heart seemed to twist in her chest for the man, would everything work? Would he be able to go home to his kids? But, the moment passed and the man handed back his passport, "Welcome home Mr. Cobb."

She gave Dom a fleeting smile, which he returned before moving on. Next: baggage. She saw the others there, Eams, giving her a wink and an two fingered salute. Yusef, scampering off to the bathrooms. Fisher, fingers busy on the numbers of his phone. Saito, already walking out the doors, the job was done. And... Arthur. He pulled up a cart beside her own, grabbing his bags and placing them on his cart. He didn't glance at her. Of course, they were supposed to be strangers who had simply been on the same plane together. However, the ease with which everyone adjusted to pretending not to know each other, barely acknowledging one another felt foreign and uncomfortable to Ariadne. But as Ariadne moved through the group of people towards the doors a hand brushed her sleeve. The brush had just enough pressure to signify it was intentional, she stopped but a voice said, "Don't stop."

Arthur. She kept walking, "What is it?"

"This your first time in LA?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any idea where you are going to go?"

This did make her stop, her mind had been so full of the job that she hadn't really thought at all about what she was going to do once it was over. Arthur gently prodded her in the arm, she started walking again, "No... I actually have no idea."

"Well, if you'd like someone to... talk about this with..." Ariadne felt a scrap of paper slip into her hand, and Arthur moved passed her. She felt something stir in the depths of her body, an unnamed emotion. As she walked out of the airport she saw Arthur getting into a cab and another one parked behind his, with the taxi driver standing with a sign with her name on it. As she walked up to him he looked down at her, "Are you Ariadne?"

She nodded and got into the cab. "I'm supposed to take you where ever you like, your ride's paid for." The driver let out a chuckle, "I could take you all the way to the other end of the state if you wanted. So, where to?"

Ariadne looked down at the paper in her hand, it bore Arthur's neat handwriting:Omni Hotel: 251 South Olive Street Los Angeles, CA 90012. "Umm... the Omni Hotel please."

A short while later Ariadne stepped into the hotel lobby, the furnishings were elegant. And, seated in an overstuffed armchair, near the windows was Arthur. As she walked further into the lobby he caught her eye and nodded to the front desk, Ariadne walked over and the receptionist gave her a once over before looking down at the list of names in front of her, "Name?"

"Ariadne." She answered automatically, then stopped, would Arthur have booked a room for her? The answer was yes. The receptionist handed her a room key, "Room 308, oh and I was supposed to give you this." Another little slip of paper. This one also bore Arthur's handwriting: Join me at the bar at 3? Ariadne glanced at the clock: 2:30. Just enough time for a shower...

* * *

Gordon Smithy sat down at his desk, slipping through the stack of notes his secretary had left for him. But, it was all so... pointless. He wanted out. What had he been thinking? Trying to be mayor of one of the toughest cities in the country? He couldn't do it. He wanted out. True, he'd just won his election and had been Mayor of Los Angeles for less then a month, he should be ecstatic, but he wasn't. Everything seemed to be going wrong, horribly, horribly wrong and he couldn't find the energy to deal with it. He wanted out. He opened his desk drawer, there, underneath a stack of papers was a revolver. It glinted in his hand as the sunlight from the half open blinds behind him caught the gun's metal. He lifted it, putting the barrel between his lips, he wanted out...

* * *

Ariadne stepped into the hotel bar, Arthur was already seated, a drink in his hand. He spotted her and waived her over. She sat down, "Arthur what was all that?"

"All what?" He asked, playing dumb, taking a sip of his drink.

"Why did you pay for the cab? And get me a room? I have plenty of money, Saito al-" She stopped when she caught his eye, bitting her lip for a moment, she tried again, "Why?"

Arthur but his drink on the bar, "I didn't think you'd want to waste your first paycheck."

"I would have been fine, I'd just stay some place cheap."

Arthur gave a laugh that seemed to be more of an snort, "Oh yes, a woman, who's never been to this country before, staying alone at an cheap motel in Los Angeles seems very smart." His voice dripped with sarcasm, but his eyes glinted with worry at the thought.

"I would have been..." Ariadne stopped, sighing, "Fine. Thank you... Arthur..."

He nodded and turned to look at her, a small smile glowing on his face briefly, "Your welcome."

Ariadne couldn't look away from him. Then, the two jumped as a man burst through the doors on the other side of the hotel bar, "The Mayor's dead!"

Many people, including Ariadne and Arthur, turned to look at the man, who was panting. He pointed at the TV, "T-t-turn on the news! *pant* They think he c-committed suicide!"

The bartender fumbled for the remote, the screen flickered on, showing a reporter mid-sentence, "-or is dead. Authorities are now claiming that he committed suicide. But, close relatives state that Smithy was energized by the coming election and many are surprised by his sudden death. Another strange incident is the fact that his new secretary; Mary Rossi has gone missing."

Mary Rossi's picture appeared on the screen: she was tan, with blond straight hair that had been pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her head. She was wearing glasses and had business attire on in the picture. "The police would like to question Ms. Rossi about her employer as soon as possible, if anyone has any information on the woman please call the hotline at the bottom of the screen."

The bar around them burst into an outbreak of gossip, outraged remarks, and a few tears. Ariadne looked over at Arthur, he was staring at the screen, brows furrowed slightly, frowning "What's wrong?"

"Hm?" Arthur blinked and looked back over at her, "It's nothing... how would you like to come to dinner with me? I've been here before and I could... show you around."

His distractions worked, Ariadne nodded, smiling.

"What should I wear?"

* * *

Marcus Blood was pissed. He'd seen the news and knew that his Extractor had gone AWOL. "God dammit!" He cussed, slamming his fist into his desk, "Dammit, dammit! Shit!" The door to his office opened and a teenager walking in with dirty blond hair handing in his face, a pierced lip and a bar in his eyebrow.

"See the news?" The boy said, his voice a rasp.

Blood sat at his desk and nodded, "You know what this means... she's on the move..." He looked down at the papers on his desk, shifted them to the side and lifted a file, "You know... I think I have the perfect person for our job." He looked up at the teen standing on the other side of the desk, "I need you to track down the family home of Dom Cobb."

"And what are you going to do?"

"Oh, nothing much." Said Blood standing, "Just going to meet an old friend for dinner."

* * *

Would appear to desperate if she admitted she spent a longer time working on her appearance before dinner then usual? Ariadne hopped not. She gently brushed her fingers through her lightly curled hair one more time as she looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a strapless black evening dress with slight beading detail on the bodice, a simple black purse clutched in one hand, silver bangles on her wrist, silver drop earrings, and strappy black heels. Arthur hadn't told her much about the place, only that dressing nicely would be advisable. With a final glance at her reflection she left her hotel room to meet Arthur in the lobby.

As usual, he was dressed neatly and elegantly, a black suit with a dark green vest and ivory colored tie. His hair slicked back, not a single strand out of place. Arthur gave her a small smile as she approached, "You look nice."

"Thank you. Where are we going?"

Arthur chuckled, "You'll see..."

He lead her out to a cab, but as they climbed in and shut the door they noticed there was a man in the passenger seat. He turned around and smiled, white teeth flashing in the dim light, "Hello Arthur, mind if I join you?"

**And... that's it for right now! ^^ I hope this all went over well... I wanted to make it longer, add more detail, but my plot bunnies aren't running at the moment. More like they are dragging themselves forward when I try to think... *sighs* Well I hope to get the next piece out in a few days. Don't be afraid to critique or add in ideas or other input. But, NO flames for this couple please! ^^**

**Review= Happiness**


	2. Dinner with Danger

**AN: Thank you to all of the other members of FF who have favorited my story or put me on thier alert. ^^ I'm really happy. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter of Natural Inception...**

**Warnings: OOC (out of characterness), death, adult language and content**

**Couples: Arthur/Ariadne and slight Arthur/OC**

* * *

Recap: As usual, he was dressed neatly and elegantly, a black suit with a dark green vest and ivory colored tie. His hair slicked back, not a single strand out of place. Arthur gave her a small smile as she approached, "You look nice."

"Thank you. Where are we going?"

Arthur chuckled, "You'll see..."

He lead her out to a cab, but as they climbed in and shut the door they noticed there was a man in the passenger seat. He turned around and smiled, white teeth flashing in the dim light, "Hello Arthur, mind if I join you?"

Start:

"Yes. I do mind." Arthur's voice had lost all of his light-hearted chuckle and taken on a hard, cold edge, "Get out."

The man, on the contrary, spoke with a light tone, almost joking, "Is that any way to treat on old friend?" Before Arthur could snarl a reply the man turned back in his seat, facing forwards, "Don't worry, I'm just here to join you for dinner. And, hopefully you'll decide to hear me out."

Arthur reached for the door, but there was a sharp click from the passenger seat, the safety of a gun, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man said. Arthur slowly removed his hand and shifted back into his seat.

"Where are we going?" The man up front said.

Ariadne glanced at Arthur, he was grinding his teeth, glaring at the back of the man's head, "Cicada..."

"Oh, I love that place!"

Arthur looked over at Ariadne, "Don't worry..." tentatively, he put his hand over hers, "Every-thing's going to be okay..."

"That's the spirit!" The man cheered, "Let's go cabby!"

* * *

Ariadne found herself struggling to remain calm as they walked into the restaurant. The man they came with handed the hostess his card, she looked at it for around three seconds and quickly ushered them to a table. As he motioned the two to walk ahead of him, she caught a good look at his face; the man has an olive toned skin, sharp grey eyes and black hair that had been quickly combed. Overall, his features were handsome, except for some healing scratch marks on his face, some looked very raw still. He was wearing a black suit like arthur, but with a simple white shirt underneath, a red tie and black gloves. Overall, he would have looked at home in a line up of movie villains. Ariadne knew he had his hand on the gun in his pocket, they couldn't run and clearly this was a man of power, they couldn't raise a scene easily.

"Who is this guy?" She murmured to Arthur out of the corner of her mouth as they navigated their way through the tables.

"An Extractor... by the name of Marcus Blood." Arthur murmured back as the hostess motioned them to sit at a table. They were now at the far right corner of the restaurant, far away from the exit. They sat and the hostess placed glasses of water in front of them and scurried away.

"What do you want from us?" Ariadne asked.

The man gave a slight chuckle, "Come on now dear, I always like pleasure before business," He lifted his menu, "Their scampi here is amazing. Oh! And I forgot to introduce myself." He looked over at her, grey eyes flashing, "My name is Marcus Blood. And I used to work with this stick in the mud."

Marcus gave Arthur's shoulder a pat; Arthur looked like he was forcing himself not to recoil. "We used to work together." Marcus continued.

Ariadne stared, "What?"

"Oh, yeah..." Marcus said, grinning and taking a sip of his water, "Arthur used to work with me. Quite the nice little point man he was."

He set down his glass, "I heard all about your Fisher job, really really nice work... and I've invited (Arthur rolled his eyes, muttering "Invited my ass...") the two of you here to explain to you about a little problem I'm having. I want to two of you to join _my_ team. And, help me out."

Arthur glared, "If you think we are going to help you Blood, you-"

"How is Dom Cobb?" Marcus interrupted, redirecting his gaze to Arthur, "I heard he has gone back to his family."

The bottom seemed to drop out of Ariadne's stomach, "How did you...?"

"I've have friends who are very good at this business, we've learned somethings..." Marcus' smile took on another light, one that clashed with his joking tone, one that was much more sinister, "So how about we order dinner, then you can hear me out."

Ariadne had never felt time pass more slowly, this was worse then when they were facing the prospect of ten years in a dream. Every once in a while she would shoot a glance at Arthur, who was nibbling at his food stone faced: Marcus was pointing his gun at Arthur's knee under the table. Marcus, on the other hand, acted like nothing was wrong; flirting with the waitress, seemingly blind to the way she practically ran away from the table in fear. 'Who is this guy? He's more then just an extractor.' Ariadne thought, as she took a sip of water with a shaky hand. At last, Marcus handed Arthur the bill, "You are treating us, right?"

After Arthur's card had been returned, they started to get up, but Marcus motioned for them to return to their seats, "Quite a delicious dinner don't you think? Well.. time to get down to business."

"What is this job?" Arthur asked, his voice practically shaking with rage.

"As you know Arthur, I built my own team. But, I never felt it was complete, as you know, I've built my team out of those who are the best naturals at their field... and I wanted one final member, a natural Inceptor."

Arthur scoffed, "Look Inception, I didn't even think it was possible until a few hours ago, but someone who can naturally do it? _That_ is impossible. We won't be able to find one."

"Ah," Marcus tsked, wagging a finger, "You didn't, but I did and she joined me."

Marcus pulled an single folded piece of paper out of his jacket, he unfolded it and smoothed it out on the table. Ariadne stared down at it: it was a picture, of a girl. She had hair that was deep brown and curled lightly, it fell to a couple of inches below her shoulders. Her eyes were violet, her skin pale cream in color, a few freckles over her nose. With the eyes of such an unusual color, she would be easy to pick out of a group.

"Who is she?" Ariadne couldn't keep the question in, "Why do you need our help with her if she's already part of your team?"

Marcus had been waiting for this question apparently, "Her name is Alice Heartman. She was orphaned at the age of three, her parent's committed suicide. Extremly happy people suddenly, just, dead. I knew at last I had found me Inceptor. We tested her, and every test she passed. Alone, she could enter a person's mind, and alone she could perform inception. It was glorious." Marcus' eyes were shining with bright, joyful reminiscence.

"Why do you need us?" Arthur repeated her question impatiently.

Marcus' eyes snapped back into focus, "Because... she's left our group."

"And how is that our problem."

"It appeared that the strain of near constant inception with our marks took quite a toll on our frail Alice... she couldn't handle it. She just dissapeared one night, after leaving a bit of a mess." Marcus gestured to the scratches on his face, "But, I managed to discover her plans. Alice wants to assassinate the President of the United States. And, I'm all for chaos and anarchy, but hell, I like this country."

"Why should we help you?" Arthur asked.

"If you refuse... well it would be a shame if anything happened to Cobb and his family. I mean, he just got home after all."

"You bastard." Arthur growled, then broke off in a grunt. Marcus had hit him with the butt of the gun under the table.

"You can't do that." Ariadne said.

"I can." Marcus said, "You see, one of my team went to his house this afternoon and he'll be standing by. All I have to do is make a phone call and its burn baby burn. Now, you have one week to gather your Forger and Chemist. Then, we'll get started."

* * *

"What are we going to do?" Ariadne asked as she sat on their bed (they are sharing a room) while Arthur paced in front of her, "We can't do this. And we can't let Cobb and his family get hurt."

"I know... I know... "Arthur murmured, running his fingers through his hair. He stopped, "We'll just have to play along for now... then we can trick him later in the game."

Ariadne couldn't think of a better suggestion so she just nodded.

"We should get some sleep... " Arthur said, puling a couple of pillows onto the couch on the other side of the room. He stopped when he heard Ariadne clear her throat, he looked up to see her patting the bed beside her. Arthur couldn't help giving her a little smile, even at a time like this. While Ariadne changed in the bathroom he slipped out of his suit, stripping down to his boxers and sliding into the bed. In the darkness, he felt her slide in beside him... and the two escaped their turbulent reality for a few precious hours.

**Next chapter coming soon. ^^ I hope you all enjoyed it, sorry if this chapter feels a little rushed.**

**Reviews= my happiness**


	3. Meeting Alice

**AN: Thank you to Eleanor 3 for your review, my first ever for this fic! And to SingingChristie for your critiquing and comments. Its stuff like that that keeps me going. LOL**

**Warnings: OOC (out of characterness), death, adult language and content**

**Couples: Arthur/Ariadne and slight (really slight) Arthur/OC**

* * *

Recap:

"We should get some sleep... " Arthur said, puling a couple of pillows onto the couch on the other side of the room. He stopped when he heard Ariadne clear her throat, he looked up to see her patting the bed beside her. Arthur couldn't help giving her a little smile, even at a time like this. While Ariadne changed in the bathroom he slipped out of his suit, stripping down to his boxers and sliding into the bed. In the darkness, he felt her slide in beside him... and the two escaped their turbulent reality for a few precious hours.

Start:

When Ariadne awoke the next morning Arthur was already, nearly dressed, he was straightening his tie in the mirror as she sat up and looked at him. He gave her a brief smile, "Sorry, didn't want to wake you."

"It's ok..." She said, brushing her fingers through her hair, feeling it mussed from sleep, she looked at the clock, it was eleven in the morning. For a moment, she was startled that she had slept for so long, then she noticed Arthur putting his room key into his jacket pocket, "Where you going?"

"To pick up Eames and Yusef..." Arthur said, "I think it would be best if I did this alone. You should stay here," He paused then clarified, "Meaning the room. I checked it out earlier this morning, no one's bugged it or anything so you should be safe here."

Seeing her disgruntled expression and her open mouth, about to protest of being left behind, he cut her off, "Look, just order some food and sit in bed all day. I'll be back by this evening at the latest. The two of them didn't go far."

"Fine..." It was all she could say.

With that and a final small smile, he was gone and Ariadne was left on her own. With a sigh she looked over at the menu on the nightstand table top, she picked it up, "Might as well run him a big bill for payback." She flipped the menu open and began scanning it for breakfast.

* * *

Arthur hadn't been gone a whole hour when she'd heard a knock at their door. 'He's back early...' Ariadne set down the omelet she'd been eating and threw on a robe to cover the tank top and panties she's slept in. She walked to the door and peeked out through the hole, she saw no one. Of course it couldn't have been Arthur, she remembered he'd left with his room key. Hesitantly, she opened the door, to find the hallway completely deserted and a single envelope in front of their door.

She picked up the envelope and after another quick glance around the hallway, she shut the door. Ariadne gingerly opened the envelope, inside was a single card and a tiny metal vial. The card was made of expensive, thick white paper with a picture emblazoned on the back. The picture was of a building made of different colored glass, so that you could see its entire structure like a blue print. On the blank side was a note:

Ariadne,

Yes, I know your name. And yes, I know your an architect and about the job you have recently accomplished alongside Dom Cobb. Congratulations. I also know you mett with my former employer Marcus Blood, last night. I know that he threatened your friend and painted me like a villain. But, here is something I want you to know: he is wrong. True, I am a natural inceptor, but I don't want to kill anyone. I want to be able to explain things to you, properly, in person. So please, take the vile and place it into your IV on your Ladder. It will allow us to share a dream even if we are not connected together but nothing else. That way, you know I can not harm you, and I know you can not harm me. I will be hooking up at noon. I can't prove my honesty right now, but please, give me a chance.

Sincerely,

Alice

Ariadne looked at the clock, it was eleven forty five. She picked up the tiny metal vial, rolling it between her fingers, emblazoned on one side was what she guessed to be the name of the chemical in the vial: Pandora. Should she? Did she dare to try this?

Ariadne could almost hear Arthur's voice if he came back and found her, "What the hell were you thinking? She could have been leading you into a trap!" Still... it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. This was a chance to really meet their Mark and try to discover more information. So, she quickly brushed her hair and threw on a pair of jeans, jacket and t-shirt. She hooked up the IV to her arm, slid in the Pandora and pressed the button. For a moment, her eyelids fluttered, then closed as she entered the dream.

* * *

Ariadne found herself standing in an room that looked allot like an hotel suite. It was decorated just as luxuriously as the hotel she and Arthur were staying in, but she knew this was a dream. Because, she girl sitting on the couch in front of her was their Mark: Alice. With the violet colored eyes Ariadne recognized her right away. Alice was reading a magazine, her legs curled underneath her on the couch cushions and two glasses of iced tea were on the coffee table in front of her. She looked up as Ariadne began to walk towards her.

Alice's smile was soft and kind of relieved, "I'm glad you came. I was hoping you would trust me."

Ariadne slipped her hand into her jacket pocket, gripping her bishop totem tightly, "Can I trust you?"

"I hope so." Alice set the magazine on the table and gestured for Ariadne to take a seat on the couch a crossed from her, "How are you adjusting to distance shared dreaming?"

Ariadne sat and picked up the glass of iced tea, "It's... different...", she took a sip and suppressed a shudder, the tea was extremely bitter.

"Sorry." Alice said, with a wave of her hand a bowl of sugar cubes appeared, "I just like mine plain."

Ariadne added a few cubes to her tea, stirring with the straw, "You said you wanted to explain things to me."

Alice smiled again, "I just wanted you to get comfortable fist, some people... tend to react badly with the distance between subjects."

"We're both subjects?"

"That's right. I thought you'd feel more comfortable if your projections were here as well... now, where should I begin?"

"How about you tell me more about this Marcus Blood guy."

Alice frowned, "I think I'd leave that to Arthur to explain, he's worked with him longer then I have."

"You know Arthur?" Ariadne couldn't hold back the surprise in her voice.

"Not really. I was under "observation"," Alice made air quotes, "During his final days with Blood, we met only a couple of times, I don't think he even knew my name..."

"Well, then explain everything. Everything and anything you think I'd need to know."

"First of all... I'm not trying to kill anybody. That's just something Marcus said to make you want to hunt me down, he wants you to think your saving the world or something like that. He just wants me gone because I know the secrets of his group and quite a bit of his personal dirty laundry. Do you believe me on that?"

Ariadne nodded, though inside, she was still undecided. She tried pressing for more information, some Alice gave grudgingly, but on the subject of Marcus and his group she gave nothing.

...

"Though, I don't deny that someone is going to try and create anarchy by targeting the world's leaders." Alice said, now staring at the condensation running down her glass.

"You know who's really behind this?"

"I've known her ever since I was little, ever since she killed my...our parents." Alice's voice had taken on a different tone and speed, as if she were now compelled to keep talking; "I wasn't born with the ability to perform Inception, but she was. And unfortunately, I was born with her. I try to control her, sedate myself so heavily when I go under so I could try to perform the jobs myself, but she always slips through. I had to leave because she was gaining control. She's psychotic Ariadne... she won't stop and soon, she'll really take control... I'm going to disappear."

"Stop." Ariadne said, setting her glass down, "Who is she...?"

Alice's eyes snapped up to meet her own, "I was born with a split personality. I was naturally good at extraction, but the other me was a natural at inception. And she's slowly been taking over my mind, my body, everything. I really called you here... to tell you... that I want you and your team to really do this job. I want your team to kill me, in reality. Because if you do, you'll kill Rosa and we can end this."

"Spreading rumors about me Alice?" Came a voice. Ariadne turned around and Alice's double was standing in the doorway to their hotel room.

"... Rosa..."

Rosa walked through the threshold, shutting the door behind her, the room seemed to drop ten degrees and the hair on the back of Ariadne's neck stood up.

"That was a very nice distraction by the way, picking a room at the top of the hotel and letting both your projections guard it, it took me about thirty seconds longer to reach you." Rosa laughed, the sound chilled Ariadne, Rosa looked down at her, "So, this is the little thing your placing all your hopes on? You want to die that badly Alice?"

"Ariadne, get out of here." Alice said, standing up and pulling out a small revolver from behind a pillow on the couch and pointing it at Rosa, "Jump through the window. It will wake you up."

"You can't hog the guest all to yourself." Rosa said, pulling out her own gun and putting it to her own head, "Besides, I know you won't kill me. Whoever dies first gets control of the body remember?"

"Shut up..." Alice's voice was hard as she glared at her second persona, "I am going to end this."

"We can find something else, Alice." Ariadne said, she was dying to wake up, but she couldn't leave her alone with Rosa. Strangely, Ariadne found herself believing Alice more and more. And, wanting to save her life, "We can find a way to get rid of Rosa."

"Don't you think I've tried everything." Alice said, "Get back to your team. Help _them_. Just get your job done."

"Tell me where your body is, then get back to it." Ariadne pleaded, "We can help you."

"I can't do that..." Alice said, pulling the safety on the gun, Rosa was smiling, "Because if I die first, I'd leave her here with you, she'd perform Inception on you. Ariadne..." Alice turned the gun on her, "You have to go first."

Ariadne remembered a flash of pain as the bullet found its mark and hearing the echo of the gun shot. Then all that was left was darkness.

* * *

Ariadne opened her eyes and found herself alone in her hotel room, the door still locked, her half eaten omelet still on the nightstand table, her robe abandoned on the floor, the sheets in a tangle and her suitcase left open as she'd grabbed clothes. She looked at the clock: twelve o' five, she'd been in the dream an hour. Her mind seemed to be overflowing with more questions and the information Alice had given her. She was tempted to call Arthur but decided to give him another couple of hours to find Yusef and Eames, she would need to explain this to the whole team.

Luckily, it was only three when Arthur opened the door to their hotel room. Ariadne had spent the time waiting fixing up the mess she'd left when she'd gone into the dream, it helped to calm her down, doing something that required her attention.

"Hey there darling." Eames said stepping through the door, "Arthur, you didn't tell me you got laid by out little architect! Oof!"

In the next second Arthur had elbowed him in the gut, stepping in front of him and into the room, "Don't say stupid things Eames..."

Yusef came in last chuckling.

"Arthur." Ariadne's tone caught all their attention.

"What is it?" Arthur asked, walking over to her. Ariadne handed him Alice's card. He read it in about five seconds then looked up at her, read it again and set the card down, "Did you do this?"

She couldn't lie, "Yes. And-"

"What the hell were you thinking?" Arthur said, "She could have lead you into a trap!"

"But she didn't." Ariadne protested.

"You met our little Inceptor girl?" Eames asked, clearly Arthur had filled them in on the way back to the hotel.

"Yes, and there's more to this then what Marcus told us. You were right last night when you told me we should try to find a way out of this when we can Arthur," Ariadne argued, "Alice is the real victim here. She needs our help."

With a sigh Arthur sat down in a chair, "Then explain... please..." He still looked so worried and surprised and angry Ariadne could have laughed at the motley collection of expressions flashing through his face, but instead, she started talking. When she was finished a silence stretched between the members of the group.

"So you believe her?" Eames asked.

"Yes."

"And if we don't play along with this Marcus Blood," Yusef said, "Cobb and his family will die?"

"Yes."

"We'll have to take them all out." Arthur said, "Get them all together, then take them all out."

"We are not assassins Arthur!" Ariadne said. But, what choice did they have?

* * *

**Another chapter done. I hope this one turned out well, its longer then the last YAY! ^^ Keep looking for the next chapter. Remember: reviews=my happiness**


	4. How He Knew Her

**AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, alerted and favorited! I'm so happy! ^^ I was so scared that people wouldn't like the Alice/Rosa thing (I thought it would make sense since they're working in the mind so much, maybe something got knocked loose? LOL) anyway, I'm pleased with the response. I hope people continue to read. Thanks especially to SingingChristie who pointed out a few things to me.**

**As for my other current story: The Four Houses I will be updating that ASAP... maybe a week from now ^^;;;;; Damn plot bunnies!**

**Warnings: OOC (out of characterness), death, adult language and content**

**Couples: Arthur/Ariadne and slight (really slight) Arthur/OC**

* * *

Recap:

"So you believe her?" Eames asked.

"Yes."

"And if we don't play along with this Marcus Blood," Yusef said, "Cobb and his family will die?"

"Yes."

"We'll have to take them all out." Arthur said, "Get them all together, then take them all out."

"We are not assassins Arthur!" Ariadne said. But, what choice did they have?

Start:

Marcus lounged in the chair behind his desk, watching a television that had been bolted to the wall opposite him a small smirk played his lips as he raised the volume during a news report. Behind the reporter a picture of Fisher Jr. was flashed on the screen followed by a picture of his father, then an rolling clip of an conference, "In an controversial move that shocked many Fisher has decided to dissolve his father's corporate empire. Many critics question his decision, but he seems confident. Only time will tell how this plays out. In other news..."

Marcus had stopped listening and directed his attention to the door, it was opening. An tall, dark skinned woman walked in with a sullen expression on her face. She was wearing a dark grey business suit, but bright turquoise and orange jewelry glittered at her throat, wrists and fingers. Marcus smiled, "Hello Claudia. Have you heard back from Kyle yet?"

The woman nodded, looking uncomfortable, "Yes. He says that he has been watching Cobb's family and that it shouldn't be too hard to get in and sedate them whenever you need him too."

Marcus' smile got wider, "Good. Tell him I will call..."

* * *

Arthur spent most of the day explaining that they were planning on double crossing Blood, but they would have to work quickly, since Marcus was only giving them a week to get themselves together so that his group could 'work' with them.

"marcus believes himself to be the best Extractor around, even better then Cobb. The other members of his team are Claudia, his Forger, Kyle, his Chemist and Johnathen Brimstone, his Architect... We're going to have to be very careful in order to make this work." It was around dinner time when Yusef and Eames left for their own rooms down the hall. Eames leaving with an wink and, "Don't have too much fun."

Arthur shut the door with another disgruntled sigh. He then moved and sat down on the bed, removing his jacket and loosening his tie.

"Arthur."

He paused and looked up at Ariadne, who was seated at the desk in the corner of their room, "Alice told me that she saw you, while you were working with Marcus. You never told me you knew her..."

"Because I..." Arthur said, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees for support, "Feel like I really don't now."

"What **did** you know about her?" Ariadne pressed, "How long did you work with this Marcus guy?"

"I worked with... better term would be I worked for Blood for around a couple of years. Originally, I joined Blood as his point man, it was him who taught me and got me into the trade. But, I knew right away that I couldn't stay too long with him, Marcus always had a hidden agenda and didn't mind killing whoever we were extracting from after the job was done. And he didn't keep anyone around with us for too long, I don't know if he killed them or just sent them away and paid them to keep quiet, but our group kept changing.

It quickly became clear that what he truly wanted was to find the best of the best for each job required in extraction and was willing to do anything and everything to build the perfect team. I still don't know how he tracked down the members of the team, but within a few weeks we were rounding up members.

Kyle was the first one of the 'naturals' who joined, some kid we picked up off a hacker's convention, who became our chemist. It was pretty clear, even in a room full of other geeks, the kid stuck to himself and it was easy for us to draw him in. It was different for others like Claudia... Claudia was the wife of an ambassador to France, but Blood blackmailed her into joining our team as our Forger, I don't know how he managed it. But, the next time we meet up with her she had just filed for divorce with her husband and willing to do whatever Marcus told her.

Claudia later lead us to the architect for our team: a man named Johnathen Brimstone, the famous Russian architect. (Ariadne nodded.) He was the hardest to get to join because we couldn't find anything on him for blackmail and he was already rich enough that we couldn't buy him out. But, he and Marcus had one thing in common: Brimstone had always been fascinated by the idea of inception and he said that he would join if we would work with him to find a Natural Inceptor.

After that Marcus began a new mission: to find a natural inceptor, his supposed final member to the team. I told him it was pointless that inception wasn't even possible, but he wouldn't listen. Backed by Brimstone's money and the money he'd collected from past jobs he began making Kyle develop various chemicals that would reveal a person's tendency to excel in a certain area of extraction: forging, architecture, etcetera. Both he and Brimstone believed that people could only perform inception if they were naturally good extractors. And it wasn't hard to find volunteers to test the chemicals."

"And that's how you found Alice." Ariadne said, pulling herself out of the story for a moment.

Arthur nodded, "She was one of the last we picked up to test before I left. Claudia brought Alice in, apparently she'd been hopping from place to place after the death of her parents. I'd grown tired of Marcus' madness and his desire for Inception. I spent more and more time away from the group, mett Cobb and decided to get out. I carefully began to erase myself so that when I made a break for it he wouldn't be able to track me down. I changed phones, emptied my accounts and started making false documents to hide with all while playing my part: researching new targets and helping analyze results of the experiments... My main subject of analysis was Alice.

We tested her with some of Kyle's chemicals and found she was very good at extraction, even though she'd never done it before. And Marcus thought he'd found what he was looking for..."

His voice trailed off, head slightly downcast, and there was a strange look passed through his eyes, the emotions that flickered there on his face were not positive.

"What else?" Ariadne asked.

"What?" Arthur's head snapped up.

"There is something else you aren't telling me..."

Arthur began to look uncomfortable, his eyes narrowed and he took a sharp breath before speaking, "I offered to take her with me..."

It was Ariadne's turn to pause, she struggled for a few seconds to find the right question to learn more, and what came out was, "Why?"

"I only knew her for a limited time... but... " Arthur fidgeted, "I found myself attracted to her... and the trials and experiments our extractors were put through were brutal. She confided in my that she didn't want to be there and I let slip my plan, I even started on a false identity for her..."

"Wh-what went wrong?" Ariadne found her lips still moving, though every other part of her body seemed frozen.

"I waited, but she didn't show up." Arthur's tone was cold, "I waited and waited until I knew it was either go back for her, or make my break... and I chose to run."

"But... do you still like her?" Ariadne asked, surprised to find her own tone cold.

"What?"

"Are you still in love with her?"

* * *

**Another chapter done. ^^ I feel like this one was poorly done... I will edit later, but I just wanted to get it out there! :) Keep looking for the next chapter. Remember: reviews=my happiness**


	5. A Meeting in the Park

A/N: Thanks again to all who read and follow this story and all my others! ^^ I'm sorry it's taken so long to update, I've been really busy. I hope you all enjoy this REMEMBER reviews= LOVE!

**Warnings: OOC (out of characterness), death, adult language and content**

**Couples: Arthur/Ariadne and slight (really slight) Arthur/OC**

* * *

Recap:

"Wh-what went wrong?" Ariadne found her lips still moving, though every other part of her body seemed frozen.

"I waited, but she didn't show up." Arthur's tone was cold, "I waited and waited until I knew it was either go back for her, or make my break... and I chose to run."

"But... do you still like her?" Ariadne asked, surprised to find her own tone cold.

"What?"

"Are you still in love with her?"

Start:

A brightly lit street lamp shone down on a street corner, at the corner was a simple cafe, with a few tables placed outside. At one of these tables sat a girl, her head bent over a newspaper, but if one was to look at her eyes, they would see that they were staring blankly, not taking in a word of news. Ariadne idly stirred her cup of coffee and raised it to her lips, she was shocked to find that her once hot coffee felt ice cold against her mouth. How much time had passed...?

Arthur had hesitated, almost unwilling to answer the question, then, finally, he spoke, "Why would you ask that? It doesn't matter."

"It does." Ariadne said, "Well... maybe to you it doesn't... maybe love doesn't mean anything to you."

"What?"

"Did you do to her what you did to me? Kiss her on the job? Something more?"

"What? I... Ariadne..." If it were any other time, it would be almost comical to see the point man this flustered, this out of control. Arthur opened and closed his mouth again, but this time, no sound came out. Ariadne didn't know why she didn't move, but it was as if her feet had been frozen to the floor. She couldn't move even if she wanted to, and she wanted to, part of her. Part of her wanted to run, but another part wanted to stay. That part liked watching Arthur flounder, it made her feel a little better, because she was realizing that... that simple kiss, while it may or may not have meant something to Arthur had triggered something in Ariadne. There had been the warning: Dom and Mal, what could happen to two people who were so deeply connected while working as Extractors. But, in that moment his lips had touched hers, that brief moment, she could see all of that slipping away. The thick walls she had constructed around her own emotions, her own growing affection for Arthur, crumble.

"Once... just once... one kiss...but that wasn't..."

Those few words did the trick, Ariadne didn't stay to hear the rest, the ice holding her to the hotel room floor melted away. It was replaced by a heat rushing through her entire body, the heat moved her because she could not command her own limbs, her mind was so numb. She moved to the door, pausing for only half a second to grab her bag and tuck her room key into the front pocket. Then, she was gone. In a small corner of her mind that could form thoughts, she wondered, for a mili-second, if Arthur would follow her. But, the second passed, and Arthur didn't follow her. Ariadne went to the elevator, took it to the lobby, walked out the doors and onto the street. She wandered for what felt like hours, finally settling at a small cafe, titled, La Rouge, and sat at a table outside. She let time pass and sank into her own mind, allowing questions to flitter through her still numb brain...

Why?

Did she really think she had a shot with Arthur?

"_It was worth a shot._"

That kiss… that kiss was obviously a fluke, based on what he told her back at the room. She could see that now, that hadn't meant anything to him, he was just testing. A one time thing, worth a shot… it hadn't meant anything to him… he hadn't felt anything…

This was pointless, why?

Why?

Why did it hurt so much?

Back at the hotel room

Arthur paced. He'd always done this when he wanted to clear his thoughts, the repetitious motion allowed him to organize his thinking. The mantra of his footsteps a steady beat to keep him focused, allowing him to problem solve. But this time… this time it wasn't working. He was so… he didn't know what he was. Angry? Sad? Embarrassed? Nothing seemed to fit. That was when his eyes landed on the tiny metal vial on Ariadne's desk. The label: Pandora, was visible under the desk lamp. The chemical that allowed long-distance dream-sharing. He picked up the vial and opened it, there was still some left. Would it be possible?

Without another thought he slid an IV into his arm, lay down on the bed, slid in the rest of the Pandora and pressed the button. His eyelids fluttered and in his minds eye Ariadne's face flickered before his darkening sight once before sleep took over.

Arthur opened his eyes to find himself sitting on a park bench. The sky was the fading blue orange of twilight, a more permanent darkness stretching over the horizon. His park bench was placed on a hill, a single path leading up to where he sat. Looking down, he could see trees and bunches of flowers, even a couple of people, projections, moving about, walking along. They walked leisurely, all except one. A woman was walking up the path, making a bee-line towards him. Her long dark hair was pulled back, away from her face, showing silver hoops in both her ears. The girl wore a grey dress that made her unusual violet eyes stand out even more.

"Alice."

She paused a few feet away from him, "I hoped you would come... its been years..." Her voice didn't hold any emotion, she was stating a simple fact.

"We need to talk."

"Yes... about Ariadne?"

Arthur's brow furrowed, "How did you know?"

"I'm insane, apparently, but not blind." Alice walked forwards and sat next to him on the bench. She did not look up at him, but straight up at the growing night sky, "It was written all over her face; you kissed her, and she liked it..."

"I..." Arthur didn't know what to say.

Alice lowered her gaze from the dream-heavens to look at him; "She likes you Arthur... and I'm guessing you told her about..." Alice paused, as if trying to find adequate words to describe their past relationship, "Did you tell her... what happened?"

"Yes."

"And she probably walked out on you."

"Yes."

"Don't worry she'll come back."

Arthur turned his head to look at her, she had returned her gaze to the sky, "How do you know that?"

Alice laughed and looked back at him, looking into his eyes unabashedly, "Because she probably feels the way I did all those years ago..."

He lowered his gaze to the ground, suddenly unable to look at her, "Alice... I need to tell you that I don't... I don't..."

"Love me. I know, you never did." Once again, it was as if she was stating simple fact.

Arthur lifted his head again, gazing straight at her, "What's happened to you?" Alice did not reply, not right away, but she didn't move her gaze from his face either, "I wanted to meet you... you must believe that I did. But, when the time came, I was just... too afraid... Rose... she was so strong, and I knew that Marcus could keep her under control with drugs... I just... I didn't want to have anyone else end up like my parents..."

"That wasn't your fault."

"Wasn't it? Rose and I are the same person, I am just as guilty... but... we aren't here to talk about me... ("Alice..." Arthur began to interrupt, but she cut him off) your girl, Ariadne..." A smile came to Alice's face, "She'll be mad as hell, but she'll forgive you. You'll just need to do some groveling. Trust me."

Arthur found himself nodding. Alice's face changed again, the smile fell, "There is something else you need to know. I want you.. to do the mission exactly as Blood tells you to... I want you to kill me. Ariadne probably already told you this, and there is no good in arguing... I can't fight Rose anymore."

"Aww... you're giving up?" A voice spoke from behind them, "But its so fun to watch you squirm."

They both turned to see another woman standing behind them, she was Alice's double in every way, except there was a mad gleam in her eye, and a pistol in her right hand, "Inviting more guests over without telling me? That's so mean..."

"Rose..." Arthur's eyes narrowed at the manifestation of Alice's split persona.

"Long time no see point man." Rose said, cocking the gun, "Alice, if you want to keep control of our body and make sure no one else dies, you better shoot yourself now."

"I will not leave Arthur with you." Alice said, but Arthur could see her grit her teeth as Rose lifted the gun to her own temple; "Are you suuuurrreee that's the best decision?"

"I'm so sorry." Alice said, and she reached for the gun. But Rose only pointed it at her, and pulled the trigger, Alice's body fell back from the bench and vanished. Arthur stared at the place her body disappeared, feeling her blood soak into his clothes. He flinched when he felt the cold metal of the gun against the side of his head.

"Now.." Rose said, he could hear the smile in her voice, "How shall we do this?"

La Rouge

Ariadne looked down at the newspaper again, her eyes focusing on one article: about the suicide of another mayor in a nearby town, had Rose killed him too? Suddenly, her cell rang. She answered it, "Hello?"

"Ariadne? It's Alice! Rose... Rose has Arthur trapped in the dream! I'm at your hotel room right now and I... I can't wake him up! Please... hurry!"


	6. Saving Him

**AN: Hello everyone! I'm updating again XD, the plot bunnies are running and running hard... I hope this chapter turns out well. I'll get to work on Four Houses as soon as I get a good enough stance on what should happen in the next chapter. **

**Warnings: OOC (out of characterness), death, language, adult situations (?)**

**Couples: Arthur/Ariadne slight Arthur/OC**

**Side note: Some of the facts about Belarus are wrong, such as the election date.**

**

* * *

**Recap:

"I'm so sorry." Alice said, and she reached for the gun. But Rose only pointed it at her, and pulled the trigger, Alice's body fell back from the bench and vanished. Arthur stared at the place her body disappeared, feeling her blood soak into his clothes. He flinched when he felt the cold metal of the gun against the side of his head.

"Now.." Rose said, he could hear the smile in her voice, "How shall we do this?"

La Rouge

Ariadne looked down at the newspaper again, her eyes focusing on one article: about the suicide of another mayor in a nearby town, had Rose killed him too? Suddenly, her cell rang. She answered it, "Hello?"

"Ariadne? It's Alice! Rose... Rose has Arthur trapped in the dream! I'm at your hotel room right now and I... I can't wake him up! Please... hurry!"

Start:

Ariadne's feet pounded against the pavement as she ran back towards the hotel, it was starting to rain, but she didn't even flinch when the cold water began to splash against the pieces of her skin that were un-protected by clothing. Fingers numb with cold, fumbling for her room key, she flung the door open so it slammed against the wall opposite. She stared at the scene before her: Arthur, asleep on the bed, an IV still connected to his arm. Alice, bending over the machine, a bag on the floor at her side, one hand rummaging in it the other pulling out the now empty vial of Pandora.

"Wh-what happened?" Ariadne said, her mind flitted for an instant, questioning how Alice got into the room, but she pushed that aside.

"He came to one of the dreams I was in... he wanted to talk. Then Rose showed up, and I had to choose, she was going to do it again."

"Kill another person."

"Ariadne! We don't have time for this; Arthur has 15 minutes left in the dream! Do you know what that means?"

"Three hours with Rose... she could perform inception on him... ("Or worse." Alice added.)" Ariadne found herself in front of the bed, she couldn't remember doing anything more then willing herself to be next to Arthur, "Can't we just do a kick?"

Alice froze and looked up at her with apologetic eyes, "Sorry..."

"The kick?"

"It won't work. I made it so that we can only leave the dream if the people dreaming want to, no one else could interfere."

Ariadne pulled out another IV from the machine, "Well link us up again! We need to get him out of there."

"You have to go alone."

Ariadne stopped and looked down at the woman next to her on the floor; "What?"

"I can't go. I already went in twice, its dangerous... for me to dream more then once in a day..."

"How are we going to get him out? I can't fight all of the projections on my own."

Alice had resumed rummaging through her bag and she withdrew another vial: this one was labeled Vercilium. "It will allow me to wake both of you up with the kick, but you'll need to have physical contact with Arthur in the dream, since he already has so much Pandora in his system."

Ariadne slid the IV into her own arm and laid down next to Arthur on the bed; "What about me? I used Pandora too."

"You've had enough time to work it out of your system." Alice's voice was clipped, strained and scared. She still cared about Arthur, really cared. Alice but the Vercilium into the machine, "Vercilium runs through a person's body very quickly, you'll only have 24 minutes in the dream, two minutes in reality... remember: if you kill Rose the dream will collapse, and the two of you will be lost in the remains."

Ariadne's world went black

She opened her eyes to find herself standing on the street of an deserted city. The building before her was a very large office building, it would be very hard to search. Ariadne ran towards the building and found the doors locked. "Damn!" She backed up from the building and looked around, the doors were made of glass... in a panic, she imagined the glass shattering and the doors burst in front of her.

"I am still an architect..." She murmured to herself, running through the ruined doors and into the office building. Ariadne didn't try to search, instead the imagined the room containing Arthur and Rose in front of her. She heard the creak and groan of something moving through the building: a room slid down through a sudden opening in the ceiling, like a great elevator. The room stopped on the lobby floor; made of three walls open on the fourth, allowing Ariadne to see in. The room was a simple office: desk, chair, paintings on the wall, a cabinet with various alcoholic drinks in bottles on top, three large filing cabinets stood against another wall. Arthur lay on the floor in front of the desk, letting out a faint groan of pain. Blood was visible on his clothes: a bright red stain on the white of his button down shirt, a growing dark stain on the leg of his dress pants. Rose had shot him once in each limb.

"Arthur!" Ariadne ran forwards, landing on her knees in front of him, the click of a gun cocking made her freeze. Rose stepped out from behind the filing cabinets and walked toward them; gun in hand smiling broadly, if a little insanely.

"Did you come to save him?" Rose asked, a faint giggle escaping her lips, "Or did you come to watch?"

Ariadne eyed the gun warily, "What do you mean watch?"

"This man hurt you didn't he? Toyed with you like he did us?"

"Why are you doing this? It wasn't his fault! He wanted to rescue you!"

"Don't be so pathetic, do you really believe him? He left us! He wants to kill me, he'll turn against you too!" Rose lowered the gun so that it was pointed at Arthur again, "I'm just having fun..."

"What about your murders? Do you think killing people is fun too?" Slowly, Ariadne slid her hand into Arthur's lacing their fingers, praying their time would run out.

"Those bastards? I'm doing the world a favor, they are all corrupt."

"What do you mean?"

"In the country of Belarus, 1984, Alexander Lukashenka was elected and has kept control of the country through corruption and fear. What did the rest of the world do? Nothing! He is still in charge, he is the reason my family and I were where we were, living on next to nothing! And they didn't try to make their lives better either!"

"So you killed them? Your own parents?"

"They were weak!" Rose spat, her eyes shining with malice and psychotic hatred. She looked down at Arthur who was breathing shallowly on the floor and fired another round into his left leg, Arthur let out a strangled cry as Ariadne screamed, "Stop it!"

"Why should I?" Rose laughed, "It's fun!" She moved to fire another bullet at Arthur but Ariadne was faster, she pulled her own gun out from under her jacket and fired at Rose's arm. Rose screamed as the bullet went through at the wrist, she dropped the gun. Ariadne dropped her own gun beside her and quickly snatched up Rose's before the other could recover enough to retrieve it.

"B-bitch!" Her voice was shaking with pain and fury. She lunged at Ariadne, but before she could reach them Ariadne's world went black and she opened up her eyes to see the ceiling of their hotel room.

Her first thought was; "Arthur!" Sitting up quickly, she turned to see him gasping beside her, "Are you ok?"

"Fine... for being shot five times..." Arthur grumbled, sitting up from their new spots on the floor next to the bed; "Who kicked...?" His voice trailed off as he saw Alice standing in front of them. Silence ensued and began rapidly solidifying like ice; it had been one thing to speak to each other in a shared dream, but to see each other in reality... that was something quite different.

Alice didn't speak, but smiled and nodded to Ariadne. Still smiling silently she picked up her bag and walked out of the room. Arthur got to his knees, as if he were going to follow her and Ariadne felt herself shrink a little, so she had been right...

"You should go after her."

"What?"

"Aren't you going to go after her? She's the one who really saved you, she's the one who kicked us."

Arthur looked at the door then back to her, for a second he hesitated and Ariadne felt herself shrink even more. But then Arthur leaned over the small distance between them, hand cupping the side of her face, he kissed her. It was brief, it was soft, sweet and warm; a mirror of their kiss during the Fischer job; "_You_ saved me... Ariadne..."

But, before Ariadne could reply, there was a sharp rap on the door; "Open the door Arthur!"

It was Eames...

* * *

**AN: So... I feel like this hasn't turned out well. But I want to get it out... and its 3 in the morning so I feel like the crap that it is is justified... I'll fix it if I get the passion to... in the meantime REMEMBER; reviews= LOVE! :)**


	7. No More Time

**AN: Hello, yes, it is another chapter of Natural Inception. Its Christmas Break! I hope everyone has been having a good time and that everyone enjoys this chapter. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inception, but I do own the concept of natural inception and my OCs.**

**Warning: Adult Language/Situations, Death, OOCness (out of characterness)**

**

* * *

**

Recap:

Alice didn't speak, but smiled and nodded to Ariadne. Still smiling silently she picked up her bag and walked out of the room. Arthur got to his knees, as if he were going to follow her and Ariadne felt herself shrink a little, so she had been right...

"You should go after her."

"What?"

"Aren't you going to go after her? She's the one who really saved you, she's the one who kicked us."

Arthur looked at the door then back to her, for a second he hesitated and Ariadne felt herself shrink even more. But then Arthur leaned over the small distance between them, hand cupping the side of her face, he kissed her. It was brief, it was soft, sweet and warm; a mirror of their kiss during the Fischer job; "_You_ saved me... Ariadne..."

But, before Ariadne could reply, there was a sharp rap on the door; "Open the door Arthur!"

It was Eames...

Start:

30 Minutes Earlier:

Marcus Blood gently tipped his chair back so that it was resting on two legs as he surveyed his team before him; he was rather proud of his collection. "I think Cobb's old team has had enough time to relax... we know they have already contacted one another. Claudia, go give a message to their Forger and tell them we are to meet tomorrow for a little... a little get together..." The wicked smile on Bloods face told Claudia that what he had planned was something cruel and unpleasant, maybe he was going to test their talents before they started going after Alice.

Arthur and Ariadne's Hotel Room

Ariadne dashed to open the door, since the second Arthur had started to stand he'd slumped back down, still weak from the dream. Eames, quickly followed by Usef entered their room; "We have a problem." Eames said, "That other Forger Claudia came by, they want to see us, tomorrow! Darlings, we don't have any more time... what happened to you Arthur?" Eames said, noticing that Arthur was still sitting on the floor.

"Rose trapped him in a dream. I just got him out." Ariadne said, with a quick explanation, "Now, what is this about a meeting?"

"You went into that dream alone!" Eames said, sounding surprised and more then a little angry, "Ariadne, what if you'd gotten trapped too."

"This isn't the time." Ariadne said, matching Eames volume, which was quite impressive, "We need to do something fast otherwise, we really will have to do what Marcus wants!"

"Why don't we just do that?"

Everyone in the room turned to look at Arthur, stunned.

"What?" Ariadne said quietly, she could have heard him wrong. There was no way... Arthur wouldn't want to kill Alice...

"Before I got trapped... Alice asked me to make sure we followed Blood's orders. She doesn't think that she can control her alternate persona any more." He looked over at Ariadne, "This is the only way I can see us getting out cleanly, we have no time to plan, and we still have Dom to worry about too."

Ariadne bit her lip and she looked over at the other two members of their team; Eames was looking down at Arthur his expression worried and dark, Yusef was staring at his hands, which were clasped tightly in front of him. And Arthur was staring at her; "We have no choice anymore..."

Ariadne hoped he was wrong, but even she couldn't dream up a way to save Cobb, keep Alice alive and save her from Rosa, stop Marcus and his team and keep everyone she cared about unharmed. The odds were stacked against them.

"The meeting is going to take place at an abandoned school on the corner of Apple Ave and 13th Street." Eames said, "We are supposed to meet them at noon."

Arthur got up from the floor and sighed, "Thanks for the heads up Eames... you guys should get some sleep, we'll have to be rested for tomorrow..."

Yusef and Eames left in silence, not even a little innuendo from Eames to attempt to soften the stifling atmosphere around them. When the door clicked shut Arthur turned and looked at Ariadne, she asked in a small voice; "Is there really no other way?"

"We have too much to loose... not enough to gain, Ari..." Arthur sounded defeated, tired, more tired then she had ever heard him sound, his whole body seemed to sag a little. Alice's suicide declaration and the loss of their week for planning had come as a hard blow. She couldn't bare to see him this way, she was so used to seeing him neat and in control, these emotions and rage and defeat that ebbed out of his body like waves of an ocean was enough to make her heart break.

"Arthur..." Her voice was cracked as she stepped forward and pulled him towards her, holding him close. From then it was like a switch had gone off, he was kissing her and her fingers were digging at his tie. She undid his shirt next as he pushed the thin jacket off of her shoulders with one hand and threaded the fingers of the other in her hair. Ariadne's fingers were working at his belt as he pushed the straps of the tank-style shirt she'd been wearing under the jacket down to her hips. Arthur's own fingers undid her pants and he pushed them off, kicking off his own once she'd pushed them to his knees, breaking the kiss for a second to do so.

They were on the bed, arms wrapped around each other, Ariadne kissing him for all she was worth. Then Arthur pulled away, he looked down at their bodies: him in just boxers her in her bra and panties; "Ariadne... Ari... we can't do this tonight."

Those words sunk into her head, bringing back the tiredness that the bliss of loosing themselves in each other had washed away for a brief moment. "Ok..." He puled the covers over their bodies and pulled her close, "Thank you..." He whispered to her and she was all right with it, with waiting. Because in a way he was right, there was too much going on...

"Good Night Arthur."

"Good Night Ariadne..."

* * *

The Peacock Inn:

Alice checked in to her new hotel room, she had to change hotels since Marcus might be visiting them personally soon. She had watched through the peep hole in her door as Claudia left down the hall after dropping off an small envelope in front of the door that belonged to Arthur's Forger and Chemist. The new hotel room was recently remodeled, the smell of paint still hung faintly in the air. There was a deep brown dresser and desk, a cabinet with a TV, a mini fridge, and a dark blue and green bed. Alice put her suit case on the bed and opened it. Her bag contained clothes and another small silver briefcase, inside the brief case was a machine used for dream sharing and three IVs and a box of tiny metal vials. As Alice pulled out a vial labeled Cantarella she heard Rosa stir in the back of her mind.

_You know you are loosing..._

"Shut up." Alice said a loud to herself, putting the vial into the machine.

_You know you can't stop me, why try anymore?_

Broken images flashed through her mind; the dead mayors, her parents bodies, blood flowing over the floors, Arthur broken and bleeding on the floor of the office from the dream. In the background Rosa's giggles echoed. "I said SHUT UP!" Alice screamed, sliding the IV into her arm and pressing the button on the machine. The voice and images stopped and she only had time to climb onto the comforter of her bed before sleep took over. A sleep so dark and deep that dreams could not exist, it was the only way... the only way to keep both of them prisoners in their shared mind.

* * *

Ariadne awoke in the morning to find Arthur's arms still wrapped around her and hers around him. "Today's the day..." She whispered into his chest.

"It is..." His voice startled her and his arms tightened around her body, "Are you ready?"

"Are you?"

"As I'll ever be." He sat up, releasing her and they got dressed, brushed their teeth and hair in silence. Eames and Yusef mett them in the lobby and they set off to meet their enemy.

* * *

**A/N: And, this is the end of another chapter... R and R please!**


	8. Note about Chapters 8 and 9

Hi, I decided to combine chapters 8 and 9 because they were a little too short separately for my taste, please enjoy.


	9. Ariadne's Test and the Forgers' Tango

**Here is the next chapter of Natural Inception. :) I decided to combine chapter's 8 and 9 because they were a little too short for my taste! :)  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or its characters. I own the Blood Group, Alice, Rosa and the concept of Natural Inception.**

**Warnings: Death, Blood, Adult Language and Situations  
**

**

* * *

**

Recap:

Ariadne awoke in the morning to find Arthur's arms still wrapped around her and hers around him. "Today's the day..." She whispered into his chest.

"It is..." His voice startled her and his arms tightened around her body, "Are you ready?"

"Are you?"

"As I'll ever be." He sat up, releasing her and they got dressed, brushed their teeth and hair in silence. Eames and Yusef met them in the lobby and they set off to meet their enemy.

Start:

They took a taxi to the desired street corner; Yusef and Eames riding in one, Ariadne and Arthur in another. The two of them were silent for the entire ride, lost in their own thoughts. Blood was waiting for them on the corner of the street. Ariadne thought his attempt at what he probably believed to be a friendly grin to be more of a leer. She didn't even look at him as they all went into the building. The main room of the warehouse was sparingly furnished: an PASIV on a table on the left side of the room along with four lawn chairs. There was a TV set against the back wall and a bookcase next to it and lastly another, larger table to the right of the room. Marcus was a bit a head of them and gestured to several people sitting at the table just to the right of the middle of the room: "This is my team."

"This is Claudia Jostan, formally Claudia Hastings. She's my Forger." Marcus said, nodding to the only woman at the table. She was at least five foot five, with dark, flawless skin. Her hair was long and black and was currently pulled up into a business style bun, she was also wearing business attire that was the color gray. Pink and gold jewelry glittered from her wrists and ears.

"Kyle, my Chemist. Currently, he's keeping an eye on our insurance." Blood said next, picking up a remote and turning on the television set. The group then saw that the TV had been hooked up to a computer with a web cam, the face of a boy who could be no older then nineteen appeared on the TV screen.

"Hey." He said, moving back a bit in his chair, they could see the upper half of his body and that he was in a room but no other details. Kyle's hair was blond and spiked, the tips of each spike had been died black. He was wearing and black and green T-shirt that was frayed at the hem and dark jeans and sneakers. His arms were crossed and Ariadne could see a wrist band covering what were probably scars from the PASIV needle.

Lastly, Johnathen Brimstone, gave a simple wave and introduced himself; "My name is Johnathen, I am the Architect." John was wearing business attire as well; but of the color black and a simple white button down underneath, he had a cane with an golden handle and a gold watch. His thinning silver white hair had been combed back and his eyes moved over the group. As they settled on Ariadne who was standing at the end of their line she had to repress a shudder; she had never seen eyes that shade of blue, they were so cold and malicious.

"I assume you know us." Arthur said, looking at the group before them.

"Naturally." Johnathen said. The other two nodded. Marcus clapped his hands together; "Great. Lets get started." He turned to Ariadne, "I want to test you against Johnathen. See how well you can manipulate the dream space."

Ariadne's heart beat picked up speed a little as she glanced once at Arthur who nodded, not taking his eyes off Marcus. She could see them flashing darkly; "Blood..."

"Oh don't worry. We aren't going to do any lasting damage, if any damage at all." Blood tried to pass this off as a bit of humor but no one laughed. Ariadne and Johnathen walked over to two of the lawnchairs and hooked themselves up to the PASIV.

"Have fun in there." Marcus said before pushing the button. Ariadne swallowed hard as her eyes fluttered shut.

* * *

Dream:

When Ariadne opened her eyes she was in the middle of an cell. That was the only thing that she could think of to describe the room that she was in. It was dark and from the little light that came from the small window in the wall in front of her she could see that the walls and floor were made of concrete. She began to feel around the room looking for a door and found none, "What the-?" Suddenly the little window began to close up, "No!"

A chuckle came over what seemed to be a speaker system; "Are you scared of the dark? You can't get out by using doors little girl. Is this all you got?"

Ariadne glared around the dark space and tried to concentrate, focusing on opening up the four walls. There was a harsh cracking sound like a gunshot and the wall in front of her collapsed and she dashed out, finding herself in a hallway. This one was better lit, but it was still made of stone. Ariadne closed her eyes and imagined pulling Johnathen down to wherever she was, and heard an cracking and creaking as an room was lowered right in front of her. Johnathen was laughing from his seat at a desk, an intercom microphone in his hand; "Not bad."

Suddenly, he lifted his arm and Ariadne saw that there was a gun in his hand. She barely had the panel of concrete shielding her before she heard the bullet hit it.

"What the hell?" She yelped.

"You have to win by killing me girlie." Johnathen laughed. She heard him get up to move around her shield. Ariadne opened the roof above her and shot upwards; these guys are insane, she thought, wildly searching the room for a weapon. There was a gun on the table and she picked it up, looking at it. The gun was a simple pistol, functional. The door to the room flew open and Ariadne whirled around, firing the gun. She heard Johnathen yell and saw that she had missed, hitting him in the leg. He was doubled over and looked up at her, eyes dancing with pain. He lifted his gun to fire at her, but Ariadne imagined an wall dropping over him, sheilding her. Ariadne created a door and hurled through it, racing down antoher hallway, there were no projections so far. But as she opened another door she encountered an man and a woman who both held guns. They aimed and she had to fire quickly to keep from getting shot. "Johnathen's projections." She muttered to herself, were they both subjects in this dream?

Her question was answered as she heard more gun shots down the hallway. Johnathen burst out of another room and she saw an young man fall over, blood pouring out of his mouth, his eyes empty, seeing nothing. Johnathen turned to her, "Found you."

He fired and Ariadne tired to dodge, but she felt the bullet go into her arm. She screamed as white-hot pain laced her arm and shoulder. Johnathen moved to fire again, but she had already pulled the trigger. This time she hit the mark, Johnathen slumped over, a bullet hole between his eyes.

Ariadne staggered back from his body, breathing heavily. She closed her eyes and lifted her gun to her head and pulled the trigger.

* * *

Her eyes flew open and she sat up, gasping. Arthur was imediantly at her side; "Are you allright?"

"I-i'm okay..." She whimpered and Arthur saw tears running down her face.

"She's not that bad." Marcus said, looking at his watch, "She had you beat in two minutes Johnathen."

Johnathen was scowling, but Marcus had turned to look at Eames, "Your next Forger."

* * *

Eams was glowering at the two men, but hooked himself up to the PASIV anyway. It infuriated him a bit to see they had made the little architect cry like that, it made him sick at their cruel actions, Blood would do anything to find the best wouldn't he? What would happen to them if they failed their tests? He glanced over at Claudia, the woman he would be testing against; Arthur claimed that Marcus had blackmailed this woman into working with him, he wondered how he'd managed it, she certainly had the appearance of one who was collected and careful, someone who would never give in to the demands of a man like Marcus. Blood's Forger sat down in the chair next to him and removed her gray jacket, as she prepared to go into the dream she dropped the facade slightly. She looked nervous and tired as she slid off the bracelets, exposing her wrist and sliding in the IV. For a moment, Claudia glanced over at him and their eyes locked; it was only for a few seconds, but Eames knew that he had found the Blood Group's weak spot. Marcus came over to them, and paused, his finger over the button on the PASIV; "The two of you will be forging as many times as possible in one dream; now, we've modified the sedative, so you will only be in there for around fifteen minutes, in fact..." He straightened up and looked over to where Arthur was sitting with Ariadne; "Arthur, how about you monitor them for me? I know you won't lie about who the winner is."

Arthur hesitated; an frown set on his face. Eames saw the girl's hand squeeze his for a moment, as if trying to assure him that she would be fine if left alone for a few moments. At last he stood up, "Fine." With a couple of strides Arthur laid down in the other chair and hooked himself up; "Yusef, sit with Ariadne."

The Chemist moved to sit beside the Architect while Marcus scoffed, putting his hand over his heart as though he was deeply wounded; "Ah, Arthur, have you no faith in me, old friend?"

"No."

Marcus pushed the button and darkness covered their eyes as they descended into the dream... Marcus then turned to Ariadne and Yusef; "Don't worry Chemist, I can't test you, due to the fact that my Chemist is busy at the moment." Ariadne could feel Yusef relax next to her, but neither of them looked away from their friends until they could hear Kyle's chuckle coming from the television screen. The two of them looked over and could see that he'd moved his chair closer to the web-cam, so that only his face and shoulders were visible, and was looking at the semi-blurry figures of Arthur, Claudia, and Eames; "My money's on Claudia."

* * *

When the three of them opened their eyes they found themselves in the middle of a crowded dinning hall. Arthur noticed he was wearing an black tux with an pale blue tie and was seated at an table with an elderly couple who were paying him no attention. 'I must be the dreamer...' He thought to himself, scanning the room for Eames and Claudia, had they already forged? No. He spotted the two of them on the smaller dance floor at the front of the room, so this was how he was expected to watch them forge? Eames held his hand out to Claudia, but suddenly, he wasn't Eames, he was Arthur. Arthur, back at the table, lifted a drink to his lips; keeping the score mentally; _1._

"May I have this dance?"Eam-arthur said, grasping Claudia's hand; "Beware, I'll probably act like a robot due to the fact I swallowed a stick on the ride down here tonight."

"Fine." Claudia said, before changing into Eames; "I'll lead." Clau-eames spun Eam-arthur, before beginning something of a tango. Arthur chocked on his scotch, glaring at Eames, what the hell? _1 to 1._

They vanished from Arthur's sight for a moment as an couple twirled past them; revealing that Eames had changed again; into Claudia. "You're very light on your feet..." Eam-dia said; "Now why is a talented, beautiful woman like you working for a guy like Blood?"

Claud-eams dipped the Forged version of herself; "I don't think it's any of your business." Lifting Eam-dia back up she forged again; into Blood. The two kept at it, Forging into people they knew and random people: Yusef, Ariadne, Dom, Alice, Kyle, Johnathen, an blond woman, an Indian man, an elderly couple. All the while Eames kept pestering Claudia; "Come on love, what did he do to you?"

The song ended and Eames; looking like an pale boy with messy, greasy auburn hair with golden eyes, "Let us help you.", dipped the dark brunette pale, excessively blinking, girl Claudia; "Marcus had been hounding me for months, ever since he discovered that I could Forge... it was a secret that I kept from my husband. But, one night, when we were traveling, I came back to the hotel to find him..." Claudia shifted again; now she was a tall, willowy, tanned woman with pale blond streaks in her light brown hair, the woman's green eyes flashed with outrage; "With this bitch!" Unable to hold that form she changed back to her original appearance; "So... I snapped, I shot them. When I attempted to flee the room Marcus was standing in the hallway..."

Back at the table Arthur's eyes narrowed; Eames was just standing there, listening to Claudia; he couldn't make out there words, but he knew they were running out of time and they were tied at 10 forges each; "Come on Eames..."

"He told me how he hid a camera in the room and was planning on blackmailing me by threatening to ruin my husband's career, but that now, he could blackmail me by threatening to send me to jail... so, I've worked for him ever since." Claudia changed into a man who was a little over six foot with red hair and glasses, he had a kind smile as he looked at Eames; "How can you help me with that?"

"Eames!" Arthur called as somewhere in the room a clock chimed, with each chime, the world around them cracked and shattered, piece by piece until they fell into darkness. Arthur opened his eyes and found himself looking up at Marcus' smiling form; "So, who won?"

Gritting his teeth Arthur sat up and pulled the IV out of his arm; "Claudia..."

* * *

Alice opened her eyes as the red rays of the setting sun streamed through her window. The color reminded her errily of blood; her head was spinning, making the walls lurch with a sickening slant when she tried to stand. She had slept most of the past week away; ever since the last time she'd seen Arthur and the others, she'd taken the drug. The drug that would banish both her and her alternate persona into a sleep so deep that neither would awaken until the effects wore off. But, each morning the side-effects were getting worse and worse; and each day Rosa's voice got stronger...

* * *

**That's it for this chapter... I wanted to get more descriptive in the dream-forge dance, but... I couldn't pull it all together. :) Hope you liked it, keep an eye out for the next one and the continuation of The Psychic and the Doctor, remember please R&R they= love! :D**

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed it. Please R&R!**


	10. The End

Hello my faithful readers. I'm so sorry to be informing you that I am cutting all current stories. Meaning, that for now I will not be continuing them. I have looked back through my stories and am dissatisfied with my writings. Here are my reasons for ending Natural Inception:

I feel as though I am not doing the characters justice.I have lost interest in the story line.I HATE the OC I put in there, her stuff doesn't really make any sense any more.

Once again, thank you for reading and maybe inspiration will hit me, but for now, there is nothing. I may start some new projects to keep an eye out for them.


End file.
